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User blog:Astroarnav/Custom Kre-O Battle Changers: Part 1
This is a series of reviews/showcases of custom Kre-O battle changers that I have made, based on existing Transformers characters. To start off, this is the custom Kre-O Battle Changers Jazz! (comes with alternate head and gun) This was a really fun project to work on! As you might have already figured out, it first involved a heavy retool and redeco of Hound (redeco for Kreo means replacing colored parts with different colored parts), along with about 3 months of designing and planning for everything to come into place. (NOTE: IN ORDER FOR THE AESTHETIC TO WORK, LEGO BRICKS WERE INCORPORATED.) If you look at the torso, this is the method that I concocted in giving Jazz his iconic car-hood chest, and that hasn't been done much. Of all the battle changers, Hound is the only one where the front of his vehicle mode is supposed to become his chest. Hasbro went cheap on him and just had fake kibble hiding a painted torso. So when I found out that Hound’s kibble and transforming parts could be suitable for a Battle Changer Jazz, I tried to find ways for the one thing that had been done a mere three times. I wanted the hood of the alt-mode, specifically the front of the car that becomes Jazz’s chest plate, to actually remain unaltered in the transformation. As the picture indicates, I figured it out. I applied a 1x1 clip-on axel piece on both sides, with a stud attached upside up. Then I took a white 1x4 plank and, after adjusting the wheels to have the clips in symmetrical position, attached in onto the studs. In vehicle mode, to transform, you would have to detach one of the studs from the plank, leaving it still connected to the other one. Then fold the wheels as you would in Hound's transformation, where the plank will successfully meet and reattach with the stud and clip-on piece. The hood can be adjusted in multiple ways, and here I've moved it out of the way to display another cool thing about this figure. I made a custom decal for a white 2015 Ramjet torso that would reveal more detail to the figure, as well as incorporate some recognizable elements from Jazz's G1 design. It really helps complete the look with the hood on. There are some issues of the figure that I should address. The legs are stupid thick. Because of a lack of parts, and also a need for Jazz to have the wheels on his legs instead of his arms, I used 3 layers of brick tiles to keep the wheels on the legs. I know that's the same issue with Hound, but it makes sense because he's a military jeep, but this guy's basically a sports car, so his legs should be sleek, not thick. Also, the car-hood does get in the way of arm articulation, but that can be fixed with simple positioning. See? All is cool! I mean, Frenzy thinks it's cool, right? Lastly, the slope pieces of the legs are partsformed to go the full 180 degrees in vehicle mode. It really sucks, and while there was a way to fix it, it involved damaging the pieces in ways I didn't want to risk. Anyway, here are some size comparisons: Battle Changer Bumblebee Battle Changer Blitzwing Battle Changer Ironhide and the tallest of them all: Battle Changer Megatron To sum that up, Jazz is tied for the smallest Battle Changer with Bumblebee. He, thankfully, is ''not ''made to be ripped in two by good ol' Buckethead. Yay. Now let's take a look at the alt-mode! While it's not perfect, I feel that it's able to capture the image of Jazz's G1 alt-mode pretty well. There were some changes added for the sake of translation to the robot mode, but those changes seem to come off pretty well! I especially like how the hood extension (the area where the 4 is) curves in a way that syncs up well with the chestpiece. The biggest nitpick is the giant gap under the hood, where Jazz's head rests. That's something that I tried filling up, but it got in the way of the transformation. However, if I was to make a figure of Sideswipe using this model, it would work much better for that character than this one. Many have complained about the arms of the battle changers, saying that they keep sticking out with no purpose and they end up ruining the illusion; I listened, and I integrated the arms in a way that works in both form and function for this mode: Well...I tried. The hands may be visible, but the rest of the arm sits flush here. Better yet, it acts as the locking mechanism that keeps everything in one piece. This is done by pushing down on the hand hard enough to have the hand plug in through basic brick connection. To get them out of there, you'd have to push on the ball joint between shoulder and arm. Also, I think you oughta know where I got those decals. They're all custom made by me, taken from screenshots of Class of 1984 Jazz, which I didn't have. It required tons of extra detailing for it to be the correct size for their respective plates, and boy did all work out. Anyway, that's it for now! More of these guys are on their way, and I hope you like it just as much as I enjoyed making them! Here's a list of what you could expect next: * Prowl *Blitzwing *Reflector *Onslaught *Brawl *Wheeljack *Swindle *Skywarp *Thundercracker *Powerglide *Sideswipe (maybe) *Ultra Magnus (maybe) *Jetfire (maybe) To end, here's Jazz posed to dance: Jazz hands! Category:Blog posts